LA Galaxy Weekly Update: July 25

CARSON, Calif. (Monday, July 25, 2011) – The LA Galaxy will close out a hectic July schedule on Saturday afternoon when they take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC for the first time-ever in an MLS regular season game. The Galaxy will face the expansion side at Empire Field on Saturday with the game scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m. (PT). The only team that the Galaxy are yet to face this season, the Whitecaps sit in last place in the Western Conference with 15 points, leaving them 27 points behind the MLS-best Galaxy, who have 42 points from an 11-2-9 record.

Saturday’s game will be broadcast live in English on Fox Soccer starting with the ‘Soccer Night in America’ pregame show, which starts at 4 p.m., while Fox Deportes will air the game in Spanish.

The Galaxy and Whitecaps will meet again on Sunday morning in a Reserve League game before the Galaxy travel south for a game against the Portland Timbers on Wednesday, August 3, a game that will be shown live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes starting at 7:30 p.m.

The Galaxy now have five All-Stars this season, though only David Beckham and Sean Franklin are expected to play in the game. Landon Donovan and Omar Gonzalez were each named to the MLS First XI, but both players will miss the game through injury. The New York Red Bulls also have five representatives on the 32-man All-Star roster, which includes the 22 players that will dress for the game and the 10 inactive players while the Houston Dynamo have four. No other team has more than three All-Stars. Additionally, the Galaxy’s five All-Stars are their most since the 2004 All-Star Game, when six players were named to the All-Star Game at RFK Stadium.

The 2011 MLS All-Star Game will be played on Wednesday, July 27 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. The game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. and can be seen nationally in English on ESPN2 and in Spanish on Galavision.

HEADING NORTH: For the first time this season, the Galaxy will head north to take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Empire Field. One of two expansion teams in Major League Soccer this year, the Whitecaps sit in ninth place in the Western Conference with a 2-10-9 record for 15 points, including a 2-2-5 mark at home.

Though this will be LA’s first chance to play the Whitecaps in an MLS game, the two sides have met twice in friendlies, playing to a 0-0 draw in Vancouver in November 2007 and meeting against in May 2008, with the Whitecaps winning 2-1 in Edmonton. The two sides also met twice during the preseason with the Galaxy claiming a pair of 2-0 wins during their training camp in Arizona.

Since the first expansion teams came into MLS in 1998, the Galaxy are 14-6-3 against expansion teams, including a 2-0-0 mark last year against the Philadelphia Union. On the road, the Galaxy are 6-3-3 against expansion teams in their first season, though they have not lost on the road to an expansion team since 2008.

A NEW PLACE TO PLAY: Saturday’s game at Empire Field will be the Galaxy’s first-ever game at the temporary stadium that the Whitecaps will call home this season before moving to BC Place next year. This will be the first of three new stadiums that the Galaxy are scheduled to visit in 2011, with a trip to JELD-WEN Field in Portland to follow on August 3 and a game at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on Monday, September 5.

Empire Field will be the 35th different stadium that the Galaxy play a regular season game in since the start of MLS in 1996. All-time, LA are 15-14-5 in their first game at a new stadium, including a 2-1-0 mark last season, winning at New York’s Red Bull Arena and Philadelphia’s PPL Park while losing in their first visit to San Jose’s Buck Shaw Stadium.

FIRST OF FOUR: Saturday’s game against the Whitecaps will be the first of four straight games that the Galaxy will play against Western Conference opposition. Just eight of LA’s 22 games so far this season have been against teams from the West, with LA going 4-2-2 in those games for 14 points. In 14 games against the Eastern Conference this season, LA is 7-0-7 for 28 points.

On the road, LA are 2-2-1 against the West, defeating Chivas USA and Colorado and playing to a 0-0 draw in San Jose while losing at Real Salt Lake and at FC Dallas.

WATCH: Beckham sees yellow

MIDFIELDERS SUSPENDED: The Galaxy will be without midfielders David Beckham and Chris Birchall for Saturday’s game in Vancouver with pair each serving a suspension. Beckham was given his MLS-high eighth yellow card in second half stoppage of the win over Columbus on Wednesday night, leading to his second suspension of the year. Beckham missed the 2-1 win at Chicago on April 17 after collecting his fifth yellow card of the year in the previous game. Beckham, who is eligible to return to action in Portland on August 3, is now three cards away from having to serve another suspension.

Birchall was given a two-game suspension earlier this month for a foul late in the 2-1 win over Chicago on July 9. Birchall, who was originally shown a yellow card on the play, was given a two-game suspension on July 13, forcing him to miss Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the Crew as well as this weekend’s game against the Whitecaps. Like Beckham, he is eligible to return to the field on August 3 in Portland.

While those two are suspended, Juninho is now on warning after collecting his fourth yellow card of the season late in Wednesday’s win over the Crew. If he is booked in any of the next three regular season games that he plays in, he will be forced to serve a one game suspension. However, if Juninho is not booked in any of the next three games that he plays in, he will have one card removed from his record, leaving him two cautions short of a suspension.

UNBEATEN STREAK AT 13: With their 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night, the Galaxy extended their unbeaten streak to an MLS-best 13 games on the season. With the win, the Galaxy are now 7-0-6 for 27 of their league-best 42 points in their last 13 games, dating back to a 2-1 defeat to FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park on May 1. In that time, the Galaxy have outscored opponents 17-7 while getting goals from seven different players, as well as an own goal at Colorado on June 18.

If the Galaxy can get at least a point from each of their next two road games, at Vancouver on Saturday and in Portland on the following Wednesday, they will match their club record with a 15 game unbeaten streak. LA first had a 15-game unbeaten streak that ran from September 1997 until May 1998. They matched that streak during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, tallying a 15-game unbeaten streak from October 2009 until June 2010. No other MLS team has more than two unbeaten streaks of 13 games or more while LA also has six unbeaten streaks of 10 games or longer, which is the most in MLS history.

Columbus set the record for the longest unbeaten streak in MLS history, going 19 games between July 2004 and April 2005 without losing a game. FC Dallas matched that record last year, playing 19 straight league games without a loss from May until October. That streak began following a 1-0 loss to the Galaxy at Pizza Hut Park and ended shortly before the Galaxy beat Dallas 2-1 at The Home Depot Center to close out the regular season.

LA GALAXY ACADEMY

GALAXY U-17 SQUAD OPENS PLAY IN GENERATION ADIDAS CUP TONIGHT: The LA Galaxy will open play later tonight in the group stage of the U-17 Generation adidas Cup at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas when they take on the New York Red Bulls. They will be back in action on Tuesday, July 26 when they will face the Chicago Fire before rounding out group play on Thursday, July 28. Depending on where they finish in the group, the Galaxy will then move on to a pair of placement games on July 29 and July 31, with each of the four group winners advancing to the tournament semifinals, which will be played on Thursday, ahead of the Final on Sunday.

Nine members of the Galaxy’s U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-16 winning team will be a part of the U-17 squad this week, including top scorer Justin Dhillon, his brother, Sean Dhillon, who scored in the 4-1 win over PA Classics in the U-16 Final in Milwaukee earlier this month. They will be joined by a group of 11 other players that include Paul Arriola, Esteban Rodriguez, Mario Rodriguez and Nathan Smith, all of who represented the United States at the U-17 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, defender Bill Tuloima, who represented New Zealand in that same tournament, two-time Development Academy U-16 Player of the Year, midfielder Raul Mendiola and defender Oscar Sorto, who helped local club Pateadores win this year’s Development Academy’s U-18 championship.

U-15 SQUAD OPENS QUEST FOR GENERATION ADIDAS CUP ON WEDNESDAY: The Galaxy will also compete in the U-15 tournament at the Generation adidas Cup at Pizza Hut Park. The Galaxy, who are one of eight teams to compete in the U-15 bracket, begin play in Group B on Wednesday, when they take on the Houston Dynamo. They will then face Seattle a day later before finishing group play on Saturday, July 30 against New York. The following day, the Galaxy will face the team that finished in the same spot as them in Group A, with the winner of each group facing one another for the U-15 championship.

LOOKING FOR MORE UPDATES?: If you are looking for continuous updates from the Galaxy all week long, be sure to visit the club’s official websites www.lagalaxy.com and www.lagalaxyfutbol.com. The Galaxy can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lagalaxy and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lagalaxy.